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History
The date is 70 PGW, and we are still isolated from our homeworlds within the Ikan system. It is unclear how long we will need to survive alone. It is unclear how long we can keep the current peace. Akto Expansion War and Purpose The first race in recorded history to extend their influence to the stars were the Akto. A race of fierce loyalty and great passion, the Akto had divided themselves into three major factions, The Captain's Nations, a fiercely powerful militaristic and industrial power that worked off of their homeworld's western continent, The Wise Druchii, a theocracy in the east, and the People of the Roaring Void, a series of rebelling off-world colonies. In the ensuing wars, the Wise Druchii eventually won through the cunning use of missionaries and a strong technological advantage. The Druchii believed that they were the first sentient race to evolve, and that their purpose as a species was to enlighten and protect the younger races. To do this, they had to travel beyond the confines of their solar system. While they had already developed a form of near-lightspeed travel, (a major factor in their victory in the recent war) it had proven vastly insufficient in their attempts to reliably travel beyond their system. Thus began the Tesseract Project. By creating a four-dementional opening, Akto scientists devised a way to travel lightyears in mere minutes. The system was one-way, however, necessitating the contruction of a dual-complex. One to launch objects from their home-system, and one to be launched, and subsequently launch objects back. Construction of the first gate took almost a century, but eventually the Akto completed the project. Their designs have been used, almost unchanged, up to the modern day. The Kala Only two jumps from the Akto homeworld, another sentient species was discovered. The Kala were a young people, only just building their first cities along the floodplains of their southern continent. The Akto were immedietly enamored with them. The innitial report sent by the Akto first contact team read, "These Kala are fearsome. They are strong and proud. Their child-bearers boast of their many feats of strength and war-prowess. Yet despite this they show a contempletive wisdom that many of our own people would do well to imitate. If we can bring them to Wise Druch's fold, then I will hold us a people of wondrous luck or providence, to have been given such neighbors as these." While the Akto went through a period enamored of the exotic Kala, the Kala themselves witnessed their people taken from their homes and raised to be enforcers and shock-troopers in an alien military. Their world soon held more Akto than Kala. First Contacts Heb's First Marriage Over the next few centuries the Akto continued to expand. Their nation had colonies in more than a dozen systems, and held three worlds with breathable atmospheres. Meanwhile, in another part of space, the Taushik had begun to expand outwards. When the Akto recieved radio messages, they rushed to their homeworld, eager to bring a new species into the fold. The race that greeted them was unlike anything they had yet seen. The Pillar of Heb was almost as advanced as they, and were reluctant to submit themselves to this new and alien species. While some Akto cried out for a war of forced conversion, the Wise Druch declared that such actions would defeat their purpose: to spread life and peace. The Taushik would have to join by choice, not by fear. As the Taushik first peered into interstellar space, they quickly stumbled upon the Caelumnen , poking at the edges of their system. The Caelumnen party who greeted the Taushik first contact team famously ran and leaped to embrace the aliens, weeping and crying out "Praise to whatever gods be! We thought we were alone!" The talks that followed quickly established a declaration of friendship, and later an alliance, the first of any two sentient races. The Caelumnen diplomancers who participated in these talks called it "Heb's First Marriage," and the name stuck. It lasts to this day. The Archipelago As the Akto continued their campaign of expansion in their search for sentient life, they entered an area of space now known as "The Archipelago," a string of old red dwarfs orbited by dozens of rocky planets that had been colonized by a number of races, using near-lightspeed technologies. Here, the future Penelat races lived their lives. Srii built up colonies across several worlds, which the Vaniin raided in turn, while the Aülsayl wandered from world to world and system to system in their trading caravans. Akto attempts to induct these races came sporadically and slowly. They were too far away to accesss cheaply or easily, and the marauding bands of Vaniin had developed a great paranoid superstition regarding the Akto, calling them "Paper Demons." The Akto would not show much interest in the Archipelago until the foundation of the Penelat Confederacy, The Great Diaspora FTL Humanity had been bursting at the seems of the Sol System for centuries. Hundreds of thousands of mega-corperations, interest groups, and nation-states were all madly working to aleviate the population problem. After a series of terrorist attempts to solve the problem 'the easy way,' using stolen nuclear devices, efforts were redoubled. Soon after the attempts, the Hitomi device was patented. The Hitomi Device was an FTL drive built off of primitive warp principles. It was extremely unreliable, expensive to make and maintain, and one of the most dangerous modes of travel ever devised. Humanity ate it up like candy. Before governments could react, they were being sold by the thousands, and jury-rigged colony ships were shooting out from the rim like schoolchildren on the first day of summer vacation. It's been estimated that less than 10% of those ships that first left actually arrived safely to another system, and less than 10% of those were able to set up viable colonies. Most Sol-bound governments were too reluctant to risk the cost it would take to retrieve or regulate these emigrants, and many people were celebrating as the over-population had suddenly dropped away from strained resources and over-taxed governments. The new human colonies were left to fend for themselves. At least 17 seperate societies began forming across 13 different systems, though this estimate is likely too conservative. New cultures, identities, and even ethnicities developed in these colonies, many of which have come to dominate human society to this day. The Ozhkavoshi Contact It didn't take long for the Akto to identify humanity's presence. The beacon of radio signals they had been blaring into space was hard to ignore. The Akto were quickly able to identify the presence of multiple competing factions withing human society, and discided that rather than try to convert the populous en masse, they would instead focus their attempts to only a few groups. To this end, the Akto began build jumps towards a single human world, controlled by a people known as the Ozhkavosh, literally the "I-Tongue." The Ozhkavosh had rapidly extended their reach over several other colonies in their system, and had become notorious as slave-traders and black market dealers. The Ako believed that if they could convert the Ozhkavoshi, who had substantial underground markets across a number of systems, they would be able to spread their influence indirectly. This was met with mixed results. While the Ozhkavoshi welcomed Akto influence, they did not adopt Akto customs and seemed to have little interest in joining the newly met aliens. Through the Ozhkavoshi, tesseract gate technology became popularized, and the Great Diaspora finally came to a close. The Hitomi Device fell out of popularity and into obscurity, where it lies, its secrets forgotten, to this day. Formation of Modern Parties Humanity and the UPF Humanity, now equiped with Akto technology in the form of tesseract gates, began to push further afield, colonizing system after system, filling in the large gaps the Akto left between their long tendrils, probing for new life. When the Sol system finally made contact with her long lost colonies, she was thrown into a panic. While they had long before pulled themselves into a single cohesive government, the shear size and vastness of the alien civilizations they encountered forced them to rethink their isolationist stratagies. The UPF, the presiding government over the system, declared that humanity could only survive if they did as the other civilization had, unite into a single political entity. Feuled by the mega-cities and deep mines of their long-inhabited system, the UPF went on the offensive, conquering world after world. Upon extending their borders to that of Akto space, they began to slow, feeling secure in a position of strength. Bases were established in pockets across most of human space, operating points from which they would display their strength and influence, and one day take the offensive. The Labokil Emergence On the far edges of Human space, a new race was contacted. The Labokil had colonized most everything in their system, with hundreds of thousands of hives dotting the moons, planets, and asteroids that circled their pale star. Amongst them slithered the enormous Zmeyil, God-kings of the Labokil who had mysteriously arrived by no known means just a few centuries earlier. The divisive Labokil rocketed across the stars, infesting world after already claimed world, and cementing a deep-seated hatred of them amongst many of the more "civilized" races. The Colonization of Biashur and the Ikan System Sandwiched between the Archipelago and Taushik space, a world capable of supporting life was discovered. The Qariti, a nation of humans who had left their homeworld centuries before heralded this as the fufilment of a prophecy given by their first Empress, Kashi the Radiant. The discoverers of the world, who were Taushik, were unable to begin colonization before the Qariti illegaly slipped through the Taushik tesseract gate and begin landing in the system. The incredible story of this highjacking operation has since become a Qariti national holiday. Life-bearing worlds are extremely rare and valuable, so very few nations have the clout to claim one all for themselves. The Taushik, frustrated but but not in a mood for war, reluctantly allowed the Qariti to begin colonization, provided they were able to colonize the rich southern swamps of Kebir. Before long, Srii colonists, seeking refuge from the unending Vaniin attacks, sought refuge in the borderworld, laying claim to the Jhuzer Archipelago, the irony of their chosen location not lost on them. Soon after followed the FRA, who chose to border their long-time allies the Taushik. Eventually word of the world reach the UPF, who decided to try and establish a foothold, despite the immense distance from their territory. Originaly, the UPF attempted to lay claim to the lush rainforested contintent of Kolil, but were stymied by opposition from the Qariti, who had named it a part of their cultural heritage, and the Taushik, who were afraid that UPF colonization would destroy the ecosystem, costing the loss of potentially valuable genetic information. The UPF reluctantly chose to colonize the northern steppes of Kebir, a poor country that forced them to rely on supply shipments from UPF controlled space. The Formation of the Penelat Confederacy The Srii had long suffered constant Vaniin raiding, and the Archipelago's lack of useful resources or strategic signifigance proved a poor attraction for most race's attention. While scattered Srii colonies existed across various parts of space, the vast majority still lived in that string of red dwarfs. Suddenly, on the far edge of their space, a new race was contacted. Seemingly from nowhere, a heavily damaged ship was found in an unsteady orbit around a Srii-controled world. After initial first contact deliberations, the inhabitants of the mysterious ship were revealed to be P'Tal, an enigmatic race that claimed to be the last remnants of an exiled people. Srii cultural demands of hospitality established a strong precedent of friendship and mutual trust between the two species, and within a few short years, the Penelat Confederacy was established. Growing rapidly, new technology and strategems the P'Tal and Srii developed allowed for the creation of the distinctive Penelat city design, and stymied attempted Vaniin raids. The Archipelago quickly fell under the sole control of the Penelat Confederacy, as most Srii chose to submit to the new power freely, and reap the benefits there of, rather than continue to struggle against the constant Vaniin attacks alone. Srii colonies elsewhere also began to accept Penelat rule, as a new feeling on national and racial pride swept accross Srii space. The Akto War The Beginning The arrival of the P'Tal, and the discovery of the Zmeyil deeply disturbed the Akto. While there was still a chance that they themselves were accurate in the assumption that they were the first and oldest race, as no real information about the age or origin of these newcomers had yet been found, the strange and powerful technologies they wielded suggested otherwise. And beyond this, the Akto had begun to feel their dominance slip. When they had first set out across the void, their nation had been the largest, the oldest, the unquestioned masters of the stars. Now, humanity outnumbered them by a significant margin. Caelumnen influence had weasled it's way into the mainstream of society. Now, business and diplomacy was being conducted in the Caelumnen invention of Lingua Franca, replacing the previously dominant Noq, the Akto's own tongue. Their attempts at seducing societies with technological wonders had backfired, as almost every race now had knowledge of how to construct and operate tesseract gates. The allure of the strong and mighty Akto Dominion was wearing off. And for the first time in their history, the Akto felt threatened. A secret meeting was convened, the Wise Druch himself choosing to take part. It was decided that a clean, quick show of force would frighten the other races into submission, and would put the Dominion once more at the forefront of interstellar politics. The target: a string of isolated human colonies, the majority of a faction known as as the Cote d'Vide, audaciously placed within what were officially Akto borders. The attack came swiftly. The colonies fell within a matter of days, and news reports went wild. Rumors spread like wildfire. The Akto had attacked without warning or provocation, and the innumerable human factions were left scrammbling. After a few days, a message was given by the Akto, declaring war on dozens of human settlements along their borders. A hastily slapped together human alliance only barely managed to slow the indomittable Akto advance. In the skies, human gunboats found themselves dashed against the Akto's disciplined Black Fleet. On the ground, city after city fell to the shear might of Kala shock troops. Still allies of the Akto, the human Ozhkavoshi joined them in to war, using it as a way to take new prisoners of war to feul their slave economy. Long time enemies of the Ozhkavoshi, the UPF decided to test their might in the war, first striking out against (and eventually destroying) the Ozhkavoshi, and eventually moving their attention toward the Akto themselves. Cut off from many of their colonies and horrified by the cold brutality of the Akto, the FRA soon joined the fight, dragging a reluctant Pillar of Heb behind them. These newfound allies helpped bring a series of victories as poorly defended Akto colonies far from the primary front fell to combined Anairan and Taushik forces. The experienced UPF assault fleets became a symbol of hope amongst the human colonies, as they smashed world after world, always one step ahead of Akto forces. Rapidly losing control of the situation, the Akto began using new tactics, luring UPF forces into ambushes. Experimental weapons projects were pushed, creating new and frightening devices, designed to disable ships from a long distance, and subsequently retrofit them for use in the burgeoning Akto Draft Fleet. The Fall of Ra'Shok While concerned with the implications of the war raging around them, the Penelat had been maintaining, for the duration of their relatively short history, a policy of isolationism. The P'Tal were reluctant to risk the expense of a war while their population was only just starting to become stable, and the Srii saw war as a potential end to the peace and stability they had only recently been able to enjoy. Despite this, the ruling Oppressed saw the Akto as a more significant threat to Penelat interests than the motely coalition of humans, taushik, and caelumnen. It was thought that the Akto, upon winning the war, would turn their attention to the Confederacy, and with the resources gained from their previous victories, they would stand at a significant advantage over themeselves. The Confederacy had therefore been supplying the nearby human, taushik, and Anairan colonies, and to a lesser extent the UPF itself, with weapons, food, and ships. Many believe that secret technological pacts may have been made as well. The Akto were very aware of this deal, as it had prevented them from succesfuly starving out targets along the border. The Akto had become increasingly afraid that the Confederacy would redouble their efforts, something which would likely cost them their south-eastern tendril. The Akto came to the conclusion that the best way to halt Penelat interests was to give a quick and brutal display of power. The P'Tal were known to keep long, elegant ships that housed princes or libraries. Through the use of spies, the Akto had found that one such ship, Ra'Shok (Ra-Sho-Ka) had been orbitting a planet near the edge of the Archipelago. It was risky, but the Akto had decided that preventing further Penelat interference was worth it. A small Akto strike force came screaming through the Tesseract, quickly despatching the slow library ship before it was able to change course and escape. Unbeknownst to the Akto, the Ra'Shok had contained some of the only documents the P'Tal had of their history pre-exile. The Penelat Oppressed was thrown into a rage. Forsaking caution, the Confederacy began to raise an army. The Akto chose to use this as an opportunity rather than a defeat. Pulling most of their forces from the main front, they allowed the UPF, Taushikid, and Anairan forces to hurl themselves at the well defended Akto interior, while the Black Fleet moved to assault the Confederacy itself. The Confederacy had raised an army, but this proved insufficient in their attempts to hold the line against the highly experienced Black Fleet. While advanced Penelat construction prevented the quick and easy victories the Akto so desired, it proved insufficient to halt the advance of their ferocious Kala shock troops. The Oppressed decided that a new weapon was needed. The Aulsayl, who had long been vying for representation within the Confederacy, were given a task, hire Vaniin tribes as mercenaries, and be given representation in return. The task was accomplished surprisingly easily, and the Akto soon found themselves facing a much tougher opponent. Bit by bit, the Penelat struck back against the Akto, eventually even pushing the out of Penelat territory entirely. This set a new precedent. Until that point, all allied victories had been achieved only by out menuvering Akto forces, picking away at defences before the main force could react, bringing the foe down by attrition. Now, the Black Fleet had been defeated in open combat, and the moral of the Akto was visibly shattered. Allied forces began to consolidate and push further, forming a number of task groups that struck deep into Akto territory. Rumors persist that a covert force was tasked with a raid on the Akto homeworld itself, but these are unconfirmed. The Gateway Event The Locked Gate It was then, when the war seemed all but won, that the Ikan Tesseract Gate shut down. Technitions were sent to examine the gate, but all reported no visible problems. Everything functioned perfectly, it was simply not openning a Tesseract. Huge fleets of mechanics, astrophysicists, and FTL specialists flocked to Gateway, all desperately trying to discover the source of the trouble. On Biashur, huge riots broke out in Gan-Ging, Muhk Qariti, and Hangat Kota. The FRA called it a mechanical failure, while the Penelat Confederacy declared a state of emergency and rallied what forces they could in preparation for an Akto assault. The whole system lay in wait, confused and frightened, unsure of what to do next. Over a period of a decade, life gradually began to return to the daily grind. The underlying note of tension had not dissapated however, and international politics had become markedly chillier. The Confederacy, which had been nothing more than a independant Srii colony less than half a century earlier, was being increasingly militarized. The UPF was looking hungrily at Qariti land, and the Qariti themselves were becoming increasingly insular. On Obtenda, land disputes between the FRA, Penelat Confederacy, and independent factions of Swamp Town and Uley-Pesok began to spark several problematic debates. The Ikan League After 30 years had passed since the Gateway Event (30 PGW), the FRA proposed the creation of a union to prevent war in the cramped system they had found themselves in, and to help give a more stable base for nations to assist eachother as they reorganized for long term independence from their homeworlds. Representatives from the UPF, Natisi Qari, FRA, Pillar of Heb, and the Penelat Confederacy all took part in the creation of this council. Several sites were designated for the council, which had taken the title "The Ikan League," two being stations orbiting Biashur and Elmirri. The third site was chosen in "The Crown," also known as "Crixa," a city state lying in the center of the great path through the Kebiri desert. A powerful trade city, the Crown exchanged the placement of the League quarters for neutrality in all matters not directly concerning the Crown itself. The Ikan League first oversaw national reconstruction efforts, provding monetary and bureaucratic support as each member nation altered it's internal structure for long term independence. The Confederacy saw the formation of a new Oppressed Council, the Pillar of Heb a new senate and consulary elections. The FRA recreated their homeworld's Council of Nine, and the UPF elected a new National Chairman. Over the next few years, several other factions added their voices to the Ikan League, with the Crown earning three seats in 32 PGW, Uley-Khost earning one in 41 PGW, Two for Pod-Gorod and Za-Gorod in 43 PGW, and Swamp Town claiming a seat in 50 PGW. The Ikan League made the current dating system official in 50 PGW, dividing time into GateWay (GW), the time before the Gateway Event, and PostGateWay, the time after. This replaced the previous systems, which had been unique for each nation. The Obtendan War A Brief History of Obtenda Obtenda is a large island just east of the FRA, and had developed a distinct culture over the course of the years. Two of the first settlements made by the first wave of Srii settlers in the Ikan systems, Ibu Kota and Hangat Kota faced a large influx of Caelumnen upon the arrival of Anairan colonists. From the very start, borders were unclear, with small groups of Geriadur and Domikar Caelumnen rushing to the mangroves on the western edge of the island. Extensive trade networks formed between these groups, and eventually the peoples began to mix, with Srii and Aulsayl immigrating to the Anairan built Supponium in the west, and Caelumnen finding homes in the cities of Ibu and Hangat Kota in the east. When the Obtendan Srii first migrated to the Ikan system, they had hired a clan of Kala to serve as mercenary bodyguards. This small group eventually blossomed on the island, and integrated themselves with society as a whole, famously defending Hangat Kota from an attack made by Swamp Town in the hopes of accessing Obtendan farmland. When the Penelat Confederacy invited the Srii colonies of the Ikan system to join them in 19 GW, the Obtendan Srii showed extreme reluctance, only eventually succombing after threats of economic embargoes from the Jhuzer Archipelago. Even then, northern Obtenda only agreed after being promised great degrees of political autonomy. No P'Tal Princes ever ruled over Obtenda, with their councils being ruled by Srii Shaman. Around the same time, the FRA moved to reassert their control over Supponium and southern Obtenda. This process involved forcing Srii and Aulsayl living in the area to go through the long and difficult process of gaining Anairan citizenship. The outrage was imense, as Srii had been living in the area since before the FRA had a presence in the Ikan system at all. The Kesatuan Obtendayat In the north, the Kala, colloquially known as the Hangayat Kala, were engaged in a long and difficult struggle for civil rights. Suspicious of Kala due to their long history with the Akto, Penelat police forces (most sent from Jhuzer) had been deporting Kala to neutral zones in Swamp Town and the Obtendan mountains. The long and complicated judicial cases that followed saw the formation of a new party, the Kesatuan Obtendayat, colloquially known as the Kesobs, which began running in Ibu Kota and Hangat Kota on a platform of Obtendan unity and freedom and citizenship for the Hangayat Kala and the Obtendan Caelumnen. Bit by bit, the Kesobs gained traction in local elections, taking control of city councils and gaining the position of speaker in the councils of both Ibu Kota and Hangat Kota. In Jhuzer, the Oppressed was becoming increasingly frightened of the possibility that the Kesobs would succeed in their goals, complicating the Confederacy with the induction of new peoples, without the consent of the P'Tal, and without the official necessity of earning citizenship in exchange for a great task. The Oppressed banned the Kesatuan Obtendayat, declaring membership an act of treason and placing Prince Hu-Na-Ba in charge of an interim government until emergency elections could be held. A force of Dust Legionnaires and Vaniin line troops was sent to act as personal gaurds and military police. Obtenda blew up in rebellion. Riots in Hangat and Ibu Kota were dispersed only after the death toll had climbed to 21 civilians and 13 police. Most Kesob leaders turned themselves in, but many went into hiding, organizing protests and forming a secret militia force to attempt jailbreaks and ambush military police forces. One induvidual, a Hangayat Kala Matriarch named Peleg Oz Undoes-The-Wicked, took a central role, forming connections and organizing the underground resistance efforts. In the south, Supponium saw protests grow into riots as the FRA offered aid to Penelat forces in the north. Just as in the north, protests became riots, and riots became underground resistence movements. These two saw organization at the hands of Peleg Oz. Revolution In 59 PGW, attempting to end the resistence at its source, a team of Lakrimar Knights, working in tandem with the Dust Legion attacked the compound that housed Peleg Oz, who was killed in the ensuing firefight. Her daughter, a matron named Peleg Yaar Sings-Our-Vengence dispatched a public message, annoucing that her mother's death would not end the resistence, but instead strengthen it, claiming "A matriarch's blood will bring forth the iron tongues of this land, and the glorious plurality of a new order will be established. War is upon you." The people of Obtenda were thrown into fully fledged revolution. Peleg Yaar standing at the forefront, combined forces of Srii, Aulsayl, Caelumnen, and Kala began fighting against the Penelat and Anairan incursions. Without the support of massive nations behind them, the Kesob resistence relied on guerilla tactics, striking precision targets quickly and without warning. Anaira declared a state of Bel-Iuste, and the Confederacy made no official response, choosing instead to simply pump in more troops. The war continued to escalate. In Supponium, the large chunks of the outer wall were destroyed by IEDs. The Domikar colony of Dosh Kota was almost completely wiped out by carpet bombing, and Hangat Kota's docks were broken so thoroughly that landing troops were forced to travel over three kilometers away to avoid the debris. Resolution Both the Anairan and Penelat forces were still equiped to face enemies like the Akto, huge and slow, militaries like a wrecking ball. Instead, the Kesobs they faught were stealthy and quick, striking were it was least expected, slipping away before Anairan Obsidae could be completed, and never allowing Penelat forces time to establish a line of battle. The death tolls were rising, and so was the expense. It soon became clear that continuing the conflict was untenable. In 66 PGW, the Anaira and the Penelat Conderacy consented to peace talks. Over the course of three weeks, Kesob diplomats were able to succure Obtendan independance, and formed a parlementary government, with Matron Peleg Yaar as the executive ruler "High Judge." During these talks, Qariti Empress Lai Gau openned relations with the Obtendans, offering to help with the reconstruction effort. Many Qariti saw a paralel between their own legendary war for idenpendence, and the Obtendans'. Aid in the form of food, medical personel, and temporary police forces were gifted to the new Kesob regime. The Red Letter War The Lost Colony Unlike the Anairan, Taushikid, and Penelat colonies in the Ikan system, the UPF presence was not meant to be a longstanding and balanced establishment. UPF colonies tended to be highly specialized, relying on imports from other colonies to survive. The Caoyuan colony, as it was officially called, was meant to display the power and long arm of the UPF, rather than to provide resources or skills to the federation. This served them well enough, proving to the Qariti the size and power of the faction, but it spelled ruin for them after the Gateway Event. What was once the long arm of a mighty interstellar empire was now a severed limb. In addition to a lack of generalization, the Caoyuan colony was positioned primarily in the northern steppes of Kebir, a land with few natural resources and extremely poor soil. The UPF had never developed the city-based agritech that feuled the Pillar of Heb and FRA, so without good soil, they had very few choices. After the Gateway Event the then Sinn Administration was desperate to prevent what they saw as an inevitable famine. A huge series of government-operated fisheries was constructed along the eastern coast, around the mouth of the New Hope River. Massive grazing fields were marked out around Tallton, razing goats and sheep. In Tailbone, a government mandate was put out, requiring civilian participation in a new hydropontics project. For the time, it seemed that the UPF would survive. The Famine Unfortunately, after a couple decades it became clear that the local ecosystem simply could not maintain the current level of consumption. Larger and larger parts of grazing tracts were being desertafied. In the east, fisheries reported smaller and smaller catches, until input was almost negligable. While the UPF had trade deals with Natisi Qari and the Pillar of Heb, they had very little to give in exchange for food, and had trouble supporting them. In 67 PGW, the then Gil Administration petitioned the Ikan League for aid, but as the FRA and Penelat Confederacy were still reeling from their recent war with the newly independant Obtenda, and the Qariti were busily giving aid to the same, only the Pillar of Heb responded. Unfortunately this proved insufficient, as much of the food grown by the Taushik was deemed too bitter for human tongues, and the logistical issues of transporting food around or over the great Central Desert created a bottleneck that slowed distribution to a crawl. 67 PGW saw a poor harvest amoung most nations, as a terrible storm season spoiled most grain crops. As the populace of the UPF arcology-cities began to go hungry, bread riots started in Gan-Ging and Tallton. Pushed to their limits, the Gil administration devised a plan. An invasion of Natisi Qari would provide them with the farmland they needed, and with the FRA and Penelat Confederacy still weary from their latest war, they were unlikely to face allied resistence. And with Qariti forces serving in Obtenda as aidworkers, Natisi Qari itself would be largely undefended. The Red Letter Day The main force of the UPF military secretly moved its forces to the UPF-Qariti border, waiting for the order to strike. That order came on New Years Day, 69 PGW. The heavily mechanized UPF assault force fell like a hammer on the Qariti city Agazhen, smashing the light garrison kept there. Thousands died in the initial assault, the city itself left in a state of ruin. While a series of local manors sat throughout the Gaulands, they held only a few garrison forces to keep safe local lordlings and hunt down bandits. They easily fell to the advanced UPF force. The Empress Lai Gau's response was decisive and strong. Rallying an inexperienced and ragtag Qariti army, she managed to slow the UPF advance to a crawl. Afraid of the humiliation and cost of a loss, the UPF gathered a strike force to try and break the Qariti spirit. The Fall of Mau Katora The island capital of Natisi Qari, Mau Katora, lay only a short distance from the ruins of Agazhen. Reserve forces were retasked to cross the water, and in the dead of night, assault the island city. When the attack came, most of the population had already been evacuated. The Qariti had expected such a move, but even so, they were unable to hold against the ferocious UPF advance. The Empress Lai Gau herself had refused to abandon Mau Katora, claiming that if she "...abandoned the holiest grounds the Qariti had, they had already lost." The last recording we have of the Empress shows her in a bunker under the palace, wearing a flak jacket. In the message she speaks to the Qariti people as a whole, emploring them to fight on despite whatever happens on that night. At its conclusion, she takes a knife and cuts off her hair, crying "... this night, I shall be your Kashi." Referencing the legendary Qariti first Empress, Kashi the Radiant, whose hair was cut before she faced a series of proving trials. Empress Lai Gau died in the ensuing firefight. The Unhappy Resolution The interim ruler, Empress Che Se-Ji began peace talks as soon as was possible. The UPF, who believed that they had taken a large enough chunk of the Gaulands to provide for their people agreed, but kept Mau Katora as well, threatening to destroy Qariti cultural artifacts should the peace be broken. This agreement has proven extremely controvertial, and many believe that it will prove insufficient to prevent further hostilities.